Page 29 of Mending Me
The thing that surprised me most, though, was myself.
I hadn’t been with a man since the night of my attack, but last night, I wanted to be with Hank. I didn’t just want him, I was hungry for him. The way he looked at me with so much desire and care set my insides on fire. For such a reserved guy, he had a mouth on him and it turned me on something fierce. I thought I was going to pass out when he took his shirt off, exposing every fine line of muscle and ink that covered his torso. He called me ‘mi hermosa?1’, which I made a mental note to look up later. I hadn’t taken Spanish in school, so I had no idea what it meant. I loved the way it sounded but I loved the way it made me feel even more.
The arm wrapped around my waist pulled me closer to the body it was attached to and I gladly followed its command. I could hear him breathing softly behind me, his body keeping me warm. Carefully, I turned over so that I was facing him instead of facing away. After he handed me my clothes last night, he offered to head out so I could get some sleep.
“I thought we were going to hangout?” I had questioned. He was standing next to my bed as I slipped my clothes back on and once dressed, I pulled him towards me. I didn’t want him to leave, I wanted him to stay.
“If you want me to stay, I’ll stay,” he said, slipping under the covers with me, possessively wrapping a strong arm around my body. I loved how his body shielded mine under the covers. We must have fallen asleep soon after because I don’t remember anything after that.
Looking at him now, peacefully sleeping next to me, I tried to commit every inch of his face to memory. His tan toned skin was darker than it had been a few weeks ago when I saw him for the first time—the summer sun giving him an almost golden look. He had long, dark lashes (why do men always get naturally long lashes?) and you could see all the laughs he had etched into finelines around his eyes and mouth. My finger traced along his chin up his strong jawline and when my hand hit his hair, I gently ran my fingers through his dark curls. His breath was steady and slow and I twirled a rogue curl around my finger. I couldn’t help but smile looking at him as his chest rose and fell with every breath.
Part of me wanted to slide my hand around his shoulder and down his back to confirm if what I felt there last night was real. It was too dark to see anything, but when my hands had explored his back, they discovered what felt like twenty or more deep scars carved into his skin. He hadn’t let me feel them for long before he flipped me on top of him, cutting off my access. I was about to reach my hand towards the scarred skin when I heard Ophelia on the other side of my door.
“B? Are you still home? You aren’t usually here still!” My eyes widened as I heard her footsteps nearing my room. I carefully slipped myself out from under his arm, trying not to wake him, and skipped toward my bedroom door. The doorknob was starting to turn as I reached for it and I quickly slipped myself through the door and pulled it closed behind me, coming face to face with her.
“Hi, Ophie,” I gave her a big smile and tried to not seem nervous.
“Hi…” She gave me an incredulous look and studied me out of the corner of her eyes. “What are you still doing home? And why are you standing in front of your door like that?” My hands were tucked behind my back as I stood square in front of my door. I don’t know why I was so nervous, it wasn’t like I was doing anything wrong.
“Oh, I…” my eyes darted around, trying to come up with an explanation as to why I was still home. She and I rarely saw one another in the morning as I was typically at the gym when she left for work.
“Do you feel okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, never better actually.” I tried to laugh but it came out as a hiccup, causing me to choke on my spit and start coughing uncomfortably.
“Oh, well good. I’m glad you’re okay. Do you mind if I grab something from your closet? I think I hung my black blazer in there because I didn’t have space in mine.” She started to reach for the door and push past me.
“No, you can’t,” I nearly shouted at her and she jumped back.
“What the hell, B?”
I took a breath, bracing myself for the storm of questions that were about to be sent my way when I told her I snuck a boy into my room last night.
“You can’t go in there.”
“Why the hell not?” Her hands were on her hips as she studied me. I felt like a teenager who had just gotten caught sneaking in by her mother.
“Because….because there’s a boy in there!” The words tumbled out of me. She gasped, surprised by my confession, and brought both hands to her mouth.
“Shut up! Who is it?” she hissed, a devilish grin growing on her face.
“Remember that guy from the gym and the bar?” I said it slowly, grimacing as I did.
Ophelia had been telling me for a year that I needed to get back out there. Some would blush if they knew how many men she’s been with. But as she says, “No one questions a man when he brings home a woman, why should a woman be treated any differently for doing the same thing?” I knew she would have a field day with me sneaking a boy into our condo and having him stay the night.
“You bagged the soldier? I’m so proud of you B!” She shook my shoulders with both hands.
“Shhh, you’ll wake him up. And I did not bag the soldier, not really. I’ll explain later, okay?” I wanted to slip back behind my bedroom door and snuggle in next to him before he woke up and heard us talking like this.
“Damn straight you will. Go, go be with yourman.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. “But for real, once he’s gone, check on that blazer for me. I want to wear it to a meeting tomorrow.”
“Okay, sure, fine. I’ll let you know.” I smiled at her and turned to slip back into my room. Once the door was closed behind me, I took a quick breath.I would just have to deal with her later.
I crossed my room once again as quietly as I could, watching the sleeping man as I snuck back into bed. Once next to him, I carefully placed his arm back over my torso and snuggled into his warm, exposed chest. My eyes had just closed when he shifted slightly next to me.
“Why didn’t you tell her you bagged the soldier?” His groggy voice startled me and I opened my eyes again to look at him. His eyes were still closed but he had a small smirk on his face.
“Oh my god, you heard that?” I burrowed my face into his chest to hide my embarrassment.
